- 12 hours ago
Willard and Dibs break down the statements both the Warriors and Kristaps Porzingis put out about Porzingis' health-related absence.
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00:00The breaking news that came just before we started the crossover
00:05comes from the Warriors and Kristaps Porzingis.
00:09Warriors releasing a statement.
00:10Kristaps is now in the building.
00:12He's with the team.
00:13He'll remain with the team.
00:15He met with Celebrini.
00:16He met with Mike Dunleavy.
00:18And everybody's on the same page,
00:20but that doesn't really mean much in terms of basketball,
00:23at least not as of yet.
00:25Remains out indefinitely with no update and no timetable,
00:28but, hey, they're working hard.
00:30And that's the update.
00:31And then Kristaps goes to Twitter.
00:33Hello, people.
00:33I'm working with doctors and experts to figure out
00:35how to be fully back to good health ASAP.
00:38I'm getting better and better.
00:39I just have to stay patient.
00:40I believe I'll be feeling great again soon.
00:42Definitely been frustrating dealing with some health stuff
00:45that you can't exactly pinpoint on top of injuries throughout my career.
00:50So it is added up for sure, but we'll get through it.
00:52Health as well.
00:53Thank you for all your support.
00:54That's from Kristaps Porzingis.
00:56Yeah, and if you just look at his sample from last year as a warrior,
01:00he came over after the February 5th game that he didn't play in Atlanta
01:04for the Hawks, and there were 31 games left, and he played in 15 of the 31.
01:09So if you look at this year, if I offered you 40 games for Kristaps Porzingis,
01:14you'd probably take it right now.
01:15Would I take it?
01:16I would take it.
01:17I would absolutely take it.
01:19If you're asking me to bet on it, I'd take the under.
01:22On 40 games, yeah.
01:24And that's probably the safe play.
01:26Last year, as I mentioned, he played in 15 with the Warriors,
01:29and he played in 17 with Atlanta, so 32 of 82.
01:34And I don't know if he's better or worse.
01:36I don't know if it's Potts or something else.
01:37We don't know.
01:38No, and it just makes me feel sad for Porzingis because he's so fun to watch.
01:44No, he's a good player.
01:45He's a good player in the career.
01:47He has every bit the look of being cut short.
01:50It's also, look, I totally get it.
01:52It's his business.
01:53It's not ours.
01:54This is his body.
01:55This is his future.
01:56This is his life.
01:57So this is no criticism.
01:59But, boy, it doesn't feel great when you're interested.
02:03And all we keep hearing from everyone is, quote, some health-related stuff.
02:09I'm like, you're not Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy.
02:12Can't use the stuff word too much.
02:14What is going on?
02:16Do you know what I mean?
02:17And, again, that's just my curiosity, which killed the cat.
02:20I get it.
02:21It's not our business.
02:22But it's uncomfortable.
02:24It's uncomfortable when you care and you can't get information.
02:27I feel this all the time because I have teenagers.
02:30And you all know what that's like.
02:31Like, something's not right.
02:33You're like, what's going on?
02:34Nothing.
02:34What?
02:35No.
02:35What?
02:35Can I help?
02:36No, I'm fine.
02:37Like, it's just, ah, you wish you could get more info out of this.
02:42And the Warriors and Kristaps refuse to put a name on this.
02:46Just something I noticed.
02:47Yeah, and they don't have to, obviously, and HIPAA laws and the rest of it.
02:50And it just, it would help me know how to feel to the extent of, okay, you've got high ankle
02:57sprain.
02:57Football, four to six.
02:59It's really bad.
03:00Six to eight weeks.
03:01Okay.
03:02Dajon's dribbling.
03:03It's probably going to be a couple of months.
03:04Surgery, likely ten weeks.
03:06Okay.
03:06I know how to feel.
03:08I feel empathy for him.
03:10And I hope he gets the rehab done and gets well soon.
03:13But in ten weeks, then I can start to have expectations.
03:16Again, with this, Porzingis might play in a week on opening night.
03:20You're exactly right.
03:21And I get why the Warriors, they don't want to do a timetable because a timetable brings with it all
03:27kinds of expectations.
03:28And there's no way to know here.
03:30But the other side to it is you could be out indefinitely with blank and just tell people what that
03:37is.
03:38Again, no criticism here.
03:39It's not my business.
03:40It's just like it's something I noticed that we don't – it doesn't happen very often anymore in sports where
03:46you're just like he's out with – we're not telling you.
03:49I mean, it's like somebody's got a crush on somebody in fifth grade.
03:52Like, I'm not telling you.
03:53It's the hockey vibe.
03:54Yeah.
03:55Lower body injury.
03:56Right.
03:56I don't even know if it's lower body, upper body, out of body.
03:59I don't know what the hell is going on.
04:01I was just saying because that's what they do in hockey where, you know, so-and-so is out with
04:04a lower body injury and this is, you know, a general illness.
04:08Sir, yes, sir.
04:09I think Macklin had an upper body last week, right?
04:12That sounds about right.
04:13Yeah, upper body.
04:14Looked fine last night.
04:14Boy, he did.
04:15What a player.
04:16What a freaking player.
04:18Anyway, Shane in the city.
04:20Hi, Shane.
04:20Thanks for calling.
04:21What's up?
04:23What's up, guys?
04:26You sounded like you had a big exhale there, Shane.
04:30Yeah, well, you know, Stine usually likes when I use this word, and he's been out, so in his honor,
04:38lack of his presence, cognitive dissonance comes to mind with this Warriors team, and it's been going on for years.
04:47But this Porzingis scenario, who, as a player, you know, you watch the highlights, he's awesome.
04:53Like, it's so cool to see what he could do or what the potential could be.
04:58But, like, living in the present, not the past, $20 million with a player option?
05:06Like, who in the right mind would do that?
05:09Like, who is lining up for a KP contract at that price?
05:13And then stack that with the separate contract.
05:16Shane, can I jump in just because it's a little inaccurate on the contract.
05:21It's not a player option for Kristaps next year.
05:25The Warriors can pay Kristaps $3 million after this season and have that contract be done, right?
05:32Right then and there.
05:33So I just keep going, but I wanted to throw that out there.
05:37Okay, fair.
05:38That makes a little bit more sense.
05:39The $20 million number is more than ample, to make the point.
05:44On top of that, Steph Curry, man, in the twilight of his career, the headlines of Steph Curry
05:51takes a huge pay cut to help his team, which has been circulating since the contract got solidified.
05:59He's making, like, $3.5 million less than the peak of his tiered contract over the last, like, what, four
06:06years?
06:07$58 million a year.
06:08Like, he couldn't take, like, 42 or 32 and a half to actually make, like, one player difference.
06:15Like, the whole team is just built to be whatever this is.
06:20Like, whatever it is we're debating right now, and you guys are the experts, but, like, we're circulating this narrative.
06:27There's not even, like, there's no end in sight.
06:30There's no purpose for it.
06:33It's just like, uh, what are we doing?
06:35You know, like, well, Shane, Shane, I'll tell you this.
06:40Um, the Warriors would respond to you by saying, um, haven't we bought ourselves a little bit of slack with
06:51what's happened in the last 14 years here?
06:54And would you not sort of give them the space of what they're being asked to do?
07:01I, and I struggle with this sometimes.
07:03I don't even know that that's doable.
07:06You know, the whole, like, hey, go sign a player.
07:09Like, go, go, go sign a player.
07:11Well, who?
07:11Who and how?
07:13With what money?
07:15And why should Steph Curry take a bunch less?
07:18And by the way, even if he did, to what end?
07:21What is that like?
07:22Like, the Warriors are going to have plenty of cap space next offseason.
07:25Um, so why should he take 10 million less if you can't even explain what it is that would do?
07:32Do you know what I mean?
07:32So, like, I get what you're saying, and I totally feel your frustration, but sometimes I feel like the Warrior
07:39discourse has arrived at a cycle where all of us are frustrated because something that's not doable, we would like
07:48that to be done.
07:51Yeah, 100%.
07:52I think hindsight's 20-20, so obviously we have a little bit more, like, speculative bias now.
07:59But, yeah, I think it's a lot of, like, hard decisions that have been deferred or softened by time in
08:05the last, you know, championship, 2022, up until this point, four-plus years.
08:11Kaminga, Klay, Jordan Poole even lump them into the mix of, like, making decisions that seem smaller in the moment.
08:18That really could have been, like, a harder line, and, like, it is what it is.
08:24You're completely right about, you know, the franchise, broader picture perspective.
08:29But people who pay attention as fans and stuff, like, every little piece also gets more frustrating over time as
08:35you see it pile up.
08:37So, yeah, I see both sides.
08:38No doubt, no doubt.
08:40Shane, thanks for calling.
08:41Still a lot to do, a long way to go before you get to the spot, in my opinion, where
08:46you look at this and say, well, it's all bad.
08:49Have they made mistakes in the past?
08:51Yes, they have.
08:52We won't go through the draft picks that haven't worked out, the Jordan Poole situation that didn't work out.
08:57You got Chris Paul, you got nothing.
08:59And I think when it came to last year and you had to do something with Kaminga, it wasn't going
09:03to work out in a long-term or even a short-term future.
09:07You looked at your options.
09:08You thought, well, roll the dice with Porzingis.
09:10As I mentioned, when he played those 15 sweet games, he got you 16 tonight.
09:16Yep.
09:16So, maybe you thought we could fix him and he can be a helpful player.
09:20And even if you can't, I do think the contract at 19 million, I'm glad you mentioned the buyout, which
09:25is only three.
09:26So, it's basically a one-year deal.
09:28I do think it's a movable, expiring kind of deal at the deadline if you want.
09:32There's no question, and also as offensive to some of us as 20 million may sound for someone you don't
09:37know if you can count on,
09:38does it feel better when I tell you that Quentin Post got 10?
09:42Like, this is what seven-footers cost.
09:45Look around the market and see what seven-footers cost, especially if they can shoot a three.
09:50It's bananas.
09:52Okay, Quentin Post is making twice as much as Jonathan Kaminga this year.
09:56That's crazy.
09:58Let that sink in.
09:59Quentin Post is making twice as much as Jonathan Kaminga in the National Basketball Association this year.
10:08So, that's part of the Chris Stapps puzzle, and I get it.
10:13Right now, in this moment, again, I've said it now three times, roll the dice, they knew it was a
10:17roll the dice, sometimes two ones come up.
10:20And it looks like right now, that's what happened.
10:22It might be, and still, you know, you get to a spot where he can be tradable, or he's allowed
10:27to get healthy, healthy-ish, and play more than 40 games.
10:31And, you know, there's still so many unanswered questions about this team.
10:35You could go up and down the roster and, you know, ask a question, and you can't answer it.
10:40Steph Curry and his runner's knee.
10:42Is it a thing?
10:43Can Jimmy come back and be decent?
10:45Is Draymond Green going to be able to hold it all together?
10:48The Porzingis one is obvious.
10:50Moses coming back from a torn patella tendon.
10:52Al Horford, will he, you know, get Social Security in between games?
10:57So many questions.
10:59Is Yaxo Lendenborg going to be, like, a really good player?
11:02I think that there's—
11:03I think he's going to be really good.
11:05I think so, too.
11:05He's going to have a big runway.
11:07A very, very big runway.
11:08There's almost no player you could look at and say, oh, yeah, I know what that's going to be like.
11:14I mean, you could say, Guy Santos, he looks to be—
11:16Yep, Pods.
11:17All roads, now leading Pods.
11:18I know what Pods is going to look like.
11:20He's going to play 75 to 82 games.
11:23He's going to hit 38% of his threes.
11:26He is going to have some funky shots off the side of the backboard.
11:31He will also have a steadying influence on the team most nights.
11:36And he will piss people off at times.
11:38At times?
11:39Just for existing.
11:40Yeah.
11:41I know that—oh, one more thing.
11:43He won't say the crap he said in the past.
11:46We're not saying much of anything anymore at all.
11:48That's my point.
11:49My point is my observation on Pods, and this—you can have two different opinions about this if you want.
11:55But he has had all of the sort of unbridled vocal joy that has been pounded out of him.
12:07I don't know if the Warrior fan—I don't know if that makes you feel good.
12:11I never like that.
12:12You know what he reminds me of right now is he reminds me of what Casey Schmidt went through with
12:16the Giants
12:17when he came up here, and everybody was like, oh, my God, Casey hit the bat.
12:21He hits a homer every single at-bat, and that lasted for three weeks.
12:26And then the league realized that he just swings at the ball when you throw it.
12:30So don't throw it in the strike zone.
12:32And he swung at everything, and he hit 180, and his numbers were terrible.
12:36And all of a sudden, the world's like, oh, my God, you suck.
12:39And this guy that had this personality that filled the room tucked it in his pocket.
12:46And he didn't want to share it anymore, and he's just starting to come back out of his shell
12:50because he was starting to figure it out and play really well.
12:53And maybe that'll happen with Pods, too.
12:55Now he's got a contract, and if he plays well,
12:58and if the fan base calms the freak down about it now because he's here,
13:02and so you can either deal with it or not, that's your choice.
13:05But he's here, and he's here long-term, and he's a, you know,
13:10he is an important piece of the puzzle, not the piece, but an important piece.
13:16And I wonder, I wonder, it's almost to me, like this year,
13:20maybe a little bit of a healing process between Pods and the fans.
13:23I hope so.
13:23Can you all coexist and move forward with Warrior Basketball or not?
13:28Probably not.
13:29I mean, especially, it depends on how Jonathan Kaminga plays in Minnesota
13:34because if Kaminga goes out and starts a lot and plays a lot,
13:39and he has the ha-ha, it's going to have all of the people who thought
13:43that he got a raw deal circling back on Kerr and Podzemski.
13:48Podzemski, the Podzemski kid, because J.K. got run out, and he got mistreated.
13:55Podzemski.
13:55I do think that the Kaminga connection, unfortunately, will still be a part of this.
14:01Boy, you want to talk about two people who ain't got nothing to do with each other.
14:08It's Podz and Kaminga.
14:09So, listen, I can't speak much yet on what he looks like in Minnesota.
14:13I watched one preseason game.
14:15He was horrible.
14:16He was one for nine.
14:18He was defending no one.
14:20He could not hit a shot.
14:22I'm just telling you what happened.
14:23I tuned in and I watched.
14:25It's the only chance I got to see them so far this year.
14:29I hope that that goes a lot better for him.
14:31I know he's joining a new team and the dynamics.
14:34You know, you're next to some big-time names now.
14:36You're playing with Ant, and you're playing with LaMelo Ball.
14:39So, there's dynamics there, and I'm sure that that's going to be challenging for him
14:43to sort of find his spot.
14:44But the one time I watched him, he did not look good at all.
14:47I think that for me, preseason basketball is probably the least important of the three.
14:53I think preseason football, the majority of it is played by guys who are fighting for
14:58their life.
14:59Preseason baseball, it's all about scratching and stretching out the arm.
15:02And, you know, even if you hit 130, it doesn't really matter.
15:06But the NBA, unless you're somebody who's fighting to make the team, and that isn't usually that
15:12many people, right?
15:13Like, the roster is all set.
15:14Like, you know who your 15 are, and so what are you really doing out there?
15:19You had Steph pulling up from 35 and 40, and I don't know if you saw Halliburton in his
15:24highlights as he's back on the court, but he had a 30-footer, then a 35-footer, and these
15:29guys are just out there horsing around for the most part.
15:32Yeah, I think it's coaches that are working through rotations, and at the end of games,
15:36it's like, okay, let's take a look.
15:38But no, you don't use the preseason games to, like, make the team.
15:42I'm with you.
15:42I think they know who's going to be on the team.
15:44There might be a spot or two at the end of the bench that they're making a call on.
15:48But for the most part, you're looking at different rotations to see what works and what does not.
15:53So, yeah, I have no idea how that's going to look.
15:58I'm going to do certainly my part to not compare those two because they're not on the same planet.
16:05Like, they have nothing to do with each other.
16:06They've never played the same position, et cetera.
16:08All I was saying is that those people who want to, you know, hate on Brandon Pajemski,
16:14I think if Kaminga does well, that will be weaponized for those people who are anti-POTS.
16:20Let's go to BPA.
16:21BPA just called in.
16:23Hey, man.
16:24What's going on?
16:26Hey, guys.
16:27How you doing?
16:27We're great, bud.
16:28How are you?
16:30It's great to see you, Dibs.
16:31You too, baby.
16:32We can see you?
16:33I think thankful, just, you know, thankful to get to watch the Warriors.
16:37I love basketball.
16:38I love Steph.
16:39And whatever happens, happens.
16:41Feels like we're in a, like, you know, criticizing Dunleavy is, like, off the table.
16:46Nothing's his fault.
16:47No, I wouldn't say that.
16:50Fridell's article in The Athletic basically said that, hey, nothing's Dunleavy's fault, you know.
16:58Nothing, they had no choice but to sign Porzingis to a two-year, $40 million deal.
17:02So, that's the narrative.
17:04And so, I'm just, I'm jumping on, I'm jumping on the train.
17:07I'm jumping on the good vibe train, Dibs.
17:10And no criticism ever.
17:12And it's all good.
17:14No, you're acting like Kobe now when he wouldn't shoot.
17:17Like, BPA, come on, man.
17:20Like, no, nothing is ever off of the table.
17:23Again, I'll point out, it's not a two-year, $40 million deal for Chris Stapps.
17:27It's a one-year, $22 million deal that could turn into $40 million if the Warriors wanted to.
17:34But, like, when I hear this stuff, I always want to ask the question of, go, okay, why don't you
17:39be Dunleavy?
17:41And tell me what you would have done instead of Chris Stapps.
17:45I don't know.
17:46Maybe I would look for guys that weren't going to spend the season in an iron lung or whatever.
17:51But, like, yeah, I probably would be cruising the available free agent market, not the infirmary.
17:57But, yeah, I think, what would I have done differently?
18:00I don't know.
18:01You know, I could make a bunch of claims about what I would have done.
18:04I probably would have really tried really hard to get a guy for Stapps that could help, truly help.
18:10Probably would have tried really hard.
18:12I would not have said, I'm just going to, like, run out some at-bats, right?
18:16I think that's what Dunleavy said.
18:17We run out a lot of ground balls, I think, is what he said as far as how his front
18:21office works.
18:22I would probably have put in at least more visible effort than that to give Stapp a legit guy to
18:29play with him.
18:29But, again, I understand.
18:30It's off the table.
18:32Dunleavy is untouchable.
18:34He's great.
18:35Anyway, have a great day.
18:36Wow, BPA, you have really been fed your lunch, man.
18:40Like, he's out of juice.
18:42He's discouraged.
18:43He wants to rip Dunleavy.
18:45He's dripping with sarcasm right there.
18:46Yeah, he doesn't feel like he's allowed to.
18:47You're allowed to.
18:48You can criticize away.
18:50I think it's easier to criticize a GM for moves they made as opposed to moves they didn't make.
18:56Seemed like they were all in on LeBron James.
18:58And Draymond Green opted out to make sure that there was room for that and maybe more.
19:03And, well, they missed out on LeBron James.
19:06And, honestly, he was going to go to New York.
19:08But then New York won the title.
19:10And so then he looked at it.
19:11No, Philadelphia.
19:12I think they have a better chance for me to win.
19:15And there are other reasons, blah, blah, blah.
19:16But, for me, Dunleavy takes the L.
19:19But so do all the other teams who were trying to get LeBron.
19:21Yeah, I just.
19:22And that's LeBron's choice.
19:24And we've learned since then that it sounds like the Warriors were actually kind of off the table based on
19:29history.
19:30And I think we get that.
19:32LeBron didn't want to come here for the same reason a lot of you didn't want him to come.
19:35He couldn't get over the history of him and the Warriors.
19:38Okay.
19:39I can accept that.
19:40I'm not putting that on Dunleavy.
19:42Like, LeBron, you didn't want to come.
19:45Okay, all you can do is roll out the carpet.
19:48If nobody walks on it, then you roll it back up and put it away.
19:52So, the Dunleavy thing, look, you can criticize anyone you want.
19:55But here's what I would say to Warrior fans.
19:58This is more my perception than a report.
20:01But the idea of I wanted the Warriors to go do blank.
20:08My response is so did they.
20:10And a lot of fans think they didn't, and I think they couldn't.
20:16Those are two different things.
20:18Well, I wonder what actually got done, quote-unquote.
20:20Well, like, okay, go get someone for Steph.
20:24I don't think they thought that was off the table, but how?
20:28How do you trade an injured Jimmy Butler?
20:31How do you create cap space when you have none?
20:35How do you make someone join a team he doesn't want to join?
20:38How do you make a team like the Clippers trade Kawhi to you instead of somewhere else?
20:44And how do you get a team like the Clippers to follow the law so that they can execute such
20:48a move?
20:49They can't.
20:49Exactly.